


Time Warp

by Lucifer_BringerofLight



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:14:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28009785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucifer_BringerofLight/pseuds/Lucifer_BringerofLight
Summary: In an accident, Penny is thrown into the future. Into the year 2152. But as she soon discovers, not only the into future but into the univers of Star Trek, where she meats Archer and his crew.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Either my experiment has worked out or it has gone terribly wrong. Which would probably mean, that I had blown up my laboratory. At least, that would be an explanation for my headache. Right now, I lay on the ground motionless, not sure if standing up was a good idea. I could hear people moving around me and they came closer hastily.

“Who are you?” A voice demanded. An extremely loud voice.

I flinched at hearing him and regretted it instantly. Moving was an awful idea! My muscles seemed to burst, and my stomach was revolting so much, that I wasn’t sure if I had to throw up.

“How did you get in there?” Again, that loud person spoke to me, this time closer and therefore louder.

I finally managed to open my eyes and looked into the face of a grim male.

“I’ll ask you one more time, who are you?”

I made an indefinable sound, which was supposed to mean, ‘Shut up’. Under great effort I first rolled to my side and then sat up, now I could see some more of the room I were in. It was not, as I expected, my ruined laboratory, neither a hospital. It was… well, I couldn’t say. But now I could tell what the other sound has been, that I was hearing. Engines. Apparently, I sat inside an engine room, but with technology far more advanced than anything I’d ever seen.

“Who are you?”

My attention snapped back to the man, who, if I thought about it, seemed strangely familiar.

“Mabey we should take her to the Doc before you continue question her, Malcolm.” A second, and more friendly, voice said.

I couldn’t see the owner of the voice, but again, I had the strange feeling I should know this Malcolm. Then I had it. Please God, that couldn’t be true... Well, it actually was impossible to be true. There was no possible explanation for this. No wait. There was one. And together with this realisation my voice came.

“Really? This is, by far, your sickest joke.”

“What?”

Both men sounded more than confused. They looked at each other, but had no answer. Didn’t they expect me to realise it that quickly or didn’t they knew? They had to know, of course.

“Okay, got it, best prankster. Never again gonna doubt it. But if any of my equipment got even the tiniest bit of damage, I’ll kill you.”

My equipment was rather expensive and most of it was improved by myself. I had spent years trying to bring it to perfection and was still working on it.

“What do you mean? Prankster? Equipment?” Malcolm still pretended not to understand. But there was some seed of doubt inside of me. I wasn’t sure whether or not this was actually happening.

“I don’t think she is talking to us.”

“That’s not funny anymore, Aaron. Anyways, couldn’t it had been a bit more original than the Enterprise?”

“Maybe, you’re right, we should take her to Phlox.”

“At least she knows, where she is.” The second one was joking, though his face clearly showed his worries.

The two men lifted me up, so that I could stay, mainly because the held me up. The walked me down some corridors. I really had to admire his dedication. It looked as if I would be on the spaceship. Then again, it maybe was some sort of drug induced dream?

We entered something that seemed to be the sickbay, where I was laid down on a bed. Everything here was futuristic and weird.

“Phlox, we bring you a patient.”

Talking of weird. Another man joined us… at least he looked like a man, till he was closer. He had some sort of bulges in his face.

“Whoa! What kind of hallucinogen is this?“

„Who is she?“

„A question she hasn’t answered yet.“

“Penelope Montrose” even though I was pretty sure they knew... But if I just played along, they would ... Give themselves away or whatever.

„She just appeared inside the warp core. She was floating inside it, like… I have no idea how she had possibly survive that.”

“And how did she get out?”

“No idea. She just glided through the barrier and then landed.”

That sounded weird, but somehow, I remembered something that could have been what he had pictured. Some floating sensation, I had felt light and … there were no words to describe it. Still, this memory made me think... Of course, it could come from the drugs, but that scenario was getting more and more unlikely. So...

“So, you’re trying to tell me, this is real and that I’m not just high or have a concussion because … Oh bloody lord of hell!”

now I had my first guess back and I had an explanation ... One that I didn’t like.

“What?”

“Okay, tell me now, do you know Aaron?”

“Not as far as I know.”

“So, this is none of his jokes?”

“No, this is reality.”

“What year is it?”

“2152, why? What year do you think it is?”

The second man, Charles Tucker, looked curiously at me. He was the engineer on board and a rather handsome fellow. Moreover, he was clever and open minded, if anyone would believe me, it was him.

“Last time I checked? 2027, October 31st to be precise.”

The Doctor started his check-up since he seemed to share my thought with the concussion. But when he finished, he declared me healthy, though he had to agree in one point. I most certainly wasn’t born in this century.

“She has antibody’s against diseases, which has been exterminated since the middle of the 21st century.”

“Means?”

“Means, I have lived, while those diseases still existed.”

“On the same time, she misses essential antibodies for a human in this century. So, she is definitely not from this time.”


	2. Chapter 2

Some hours later, hours I spent as a lab rat, we set in something like a conference room, the three men I already met, the captain, who hadn’t been on board until now, and two women, who recognised as T’Pol and Hoshi Sato.

“So that I understand, you were born in the year 2000?”

“On the 31st of October, which also happens to be the day I … well, did whatever exactly it was that I did.”

I had some vague idea what I did, but I had to do some experiments before I could tell for sure.

“Tell us something about your life on earth.”

“Well, I was born and raised in London, Great Britain. Aged 16 I joined the Royal Air Force and with 19 I studied Astrophysics in Oxford. Spent one year working for the European Space Agency, short ESA, then returned to Oxford, after I’ve been offered a professorship. During my time at the university, I tried to prove some of Einstein’s theories, but failed. About three months ago I had a new idea and tried to establish a micro wormhole. I gave up after some unsuccessful tests and started experimenting with warp core technic based on some theories from Gene Rodenberry. And that’s the point, where things getting weird. You see, I don’t think I was sucked into the future, but into some parallel universe.”

“Why would you think that?”

Captain Archer looked slightly bewildered by my story. Oh, he wouldn’t believe me, what I was about to tell him next.

“Gene Rodenberry, as brilliant as he was, was no scientist, he was an author. He wrote the storyline for several movies and tv shows called Star Trek. And I know it sounds unbelievable but one of the tv shows was about this ship. About you and your historical journey.”

“And the others?”

“Well, they seem to be your future, so I’m not gonna tell you anything.”

I looked into the faces and found disbelieve and doubt. The only way to proof it that I could think about, was to tell them everything I knew about them. Which was surprisingly much.

“Captain Archer, you were born 2112 in Upstate New York, your parents were called Henry and Sally, your father developed the warp five engine and died 2124 due to the Clarke’s Disease. You spent most of your life in San Francisco, you like climbing and you should have a dog. Porthos, a beagle.”

“Impressive. But that could be just research.” 

“Comander Charles Tucker III. Also known as Trip. Born 2121, you had a brother, who taught you the two-step for a school dance, your mother bought you a copy of ‘[Emory Erickson: Father of the Transporter](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Emory_Erickson:_Father_of_the_Transporter)‘ when you were seven and read it to you every night for over a month. You also have a nephew. And your grandmother taught you lots of things, for example ‘never to judge a species by their eating habits’. Oh, and you had a younger sister, Elizabeth, she was an architect. Shall I continue?”

“You say, we are part of a tv show, still you know a lot about us.” The Captain still doubted me.

“I’ve watched it and I have a photographic memory.”

“So, this means, you could change the course of our future?” T’Pol looked suspicious.

“No and yes. I can’t actively change the future or avoid certain events. I don’t even know if they still happen, my presence already changed some things. And I can’t tell how far it reaches.” The crew exchanged heavy looks.

“Before you ask, I don’t think I am able to return. Wormholes are like a one-way radio.”

Archer nodded, “In that case, you are welcome to join us. You may become part of the crew, if I can find someone to bring you to our level of knowledge.”

“I could do it. I need another engineer anyways.”

This surprised me as much as it surprised everyone else. I was no engineer, nor had I expected Tucker to be the one to offer me this. He was no bad person, not at all, but after everything that was going on, I had thought he would be careful... But I agreed, and Comander Tucker was told to showed me an empty room, which now was mine.

We left the conference room and he showed me around. After about an hour I had seen nearly everything except the machine room.

But before we entered it, Trip turned around abruptly. “Penelope.”

“Lelo.”

“Lelo, when… when you mentioned my sister-”

I signed, he didn’t need to say more, I knew what he meant. Before I said her name, I had hesitated.

“So, you know what I mean? And you said, I _had_ a brother and Lizzy _was_ an architect… what happens to them?”

I hadn’t noticed my usage of the past. “I hadn’t intended too.”

“then why did you?”

How should I explain to him?

“You must understand, the last movie took place in the year 2378… over two hundred years into the future.”

“So, from your point of few, we’re all dead.”

I nodded slightly. That was only partly the reason, but the rest he should never know. And I could never tell him. Not only would it change him but also the course of the universe. Which was something I couldn’t risk. Not for the sake of one single life. Even if it was his sister. But luckily, he was satisfied by what I had told him, so he didn’t ask any more questions.

Instead, we entered the engine room. So, here it had started. There, in the middle of the room, was the warp core. Huge and luminous blue. As I now noticed was the barrier made of solid glass. Which means, it should have been impossible for me, to get out of the silvery blue liquid. Then again, of course, it should have been impossible for me to survive the warp plasm. But I did, didn’t I? I left Tucker and walked up to the core. It was truly fascinating. Never had I seen something even remotely similar to this. Not in my wildest dreams I could have imagined having this kind of technology in front of me. If I would reach out for it, I’d be able to touch it. To touch this amazing piece of future. A future I was part of. A future I would spent my life in. A future that wasn’t future anymore.

“I had a date.”

I couldn’t tell, why I had said that. And judging by the level of astonishment in Tuckers face, he neither. But it was true, I had had a date. With a soldier called Patrick. We had met in a bar. To be precise during a fight. Some drunken idiots had started it and he had tried to end it. Without much success. I had watched him for a while. He was cute and not a bad fighter. But when they had teamed up against him, I had to interfere. In High School and later in the army I had learned some nasty tricks that had helped me safe Patrick. After those idiots were picked up by the police, we had talked for like the rest of the night. Patrick was a good guy. Polite, kind, and fierce. I liked that combination. After that we went on some dates and had something like a relationship. Then he had to leave, three months. His last three month. Halloween should have been our first date after his return. Pat had returned this morning and as soon as his plane had landed, he called me. ‘Lelo’ he had said. ‘I’m home. I’m finally home. And this night will be the best night ever. I love you.’ These were his last words to me. We wanted to meet at our favourite restaurant. He will be waiting for me, wondering why I’m not coming. He cannot understand that I don’t show up after three months. He will probably think, I left him. … No, no he won’t. Because he’s dead. For about seventy or eighty years now. Maybe even longer. He died thinking I had left him… thinking I hadn’t loved him. This night should have been the best in our lives and now? Now it was the worst. He died thinking of this night as the night I left him. The night I walked away from him. But I didn’t. God, I wanted to marry him. Tears were filling my eyes and as Trip laid his hand on my shoulder, one of the tears broke free and rolled down my cheek.

“What happened to me?” I couldn’t look at him. “I mean, what did my people think happened to me?”

“There was an explosion in your laboratory. The whole building burned down. It was empty, most people were at home, except for you. They never found your body, but since it started in your laboratory, they assumed that there was nothing left to be found. – Your friends and colleagues held a big funeral for you. All your students, your colleagues from ESA and even your comrades form the Royal Air Force were there.”

So, they had a funeral for me. Patrick didn’t thought I left him… at least not the way I feared. But then again, what was worse? To think that she has left you and lives somewhere happily ever after or that she died a gruesome death?

“I think you should rest. This was a lot for you. Maybe too much. I don’t know. But it certainly isn’t easy to take. Come back if you’re ready to study the technology.”

I agreed and left for my room. Tucker was right, it was way too much to process. All I wanted to do was to crouch down somewhere and cry. But, since I had to stay on board for some time, I wanted a reputation. A good one, strong and brave and clever. That’s what I wanted to be, what I had to be, what I once had been. So long time ago when I had lost my home for the first time.

“You okay?”

Hoshi Sato appeared next to me.

“I got some cloths for you. Well, uniforms actually.”

She smiled and handed me a pack of blue clothing. I took them. And honestly, I needed new ones. Mine were dirty and ripped. Short, I looked terrible.

“In your room is a shower. You should rest. I can’t even imagen what you have gone through.”

“Comander Tucker already told me so.”

Hoshi smiled again,

“Trip is a really nice guy.”

“Yeah, seems like. It was indeed nice of him to offer to teach me about this world. Or time. Still…”

I looked at her, she had a kind expression in her face and her eyes. Mabey I could become friends with her… if I stayed long enough. Which I didn’t planed on. But before I could carry out this plan, I had to learn a lot. And to do so, I needed the people on this ship.

“I should get some sleep.”

Hoshi agreed, and I went back to my new room, where I first took a shower and then lay into the bed. It was somewhat comfortable, but it wasn’t my bed.

‘Don’t be choosey!’ I scolded myself. ‘You had worse beds or no beds at all. You’ve become soft!’

It was weird talking to myself, but I was right. I had become not only soft, but I had also become weak and that was inacceptable. And with that conclusion, I fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

When I woke up, the first thing I did was hitting Tucker. No on purpose of course. But being ripped out of my time and being in an unknown surrounding had put my defences back on. Which means, when Tucker came to wake me, I reacted before I could realise what was going on. And I think I had hit Tucker rather hard. He had fallen to the floor, as I saw when I set up.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry.”

Tucker got up, holding his cheek, and looking shocked.

“Who were you expecting? A murderer?”

“Everyone and no one at all. One can never be too careful.”

“Well, you must have made some pretty bad experiences.”

He had no idea. I had rough times growing up and I had learned from then. Though, after some time on the university had had softened and when I met Patrick and fell in love with him, I fully gave up on the behaviour I got during these times. I was rude and selfish, and I was a thief, arrogant and manipulative and god knows what else. I was a really bad girl. But hell, I was badass. And right now, badass was what I needed most. Still, I had sworn myself never to be that way again. But some parts of my former me had come back.

“Why are you here, anyways?”

“You have slept for nearly two days, I was worried.” Tucker smiled twistedly. “Like I said, really need a new engineer.”

“Well, and I’d like to learn about this time. So, teach me, everything you know.”

“And we will start, as soon as you eat something and maybe put on some cloth?” 

I looked down on me and remembered that I had laid down my ripped jeans and the shirt. I was only wearing my underwear. I stood up and, like a well raised man, Tucker turned away. The stack of uniforms lay on the table. I took one and put it on.

As promised, Tucker took me to the engine room, after he made sure that I eat something. He spent about a moth teaching me what he knew before I started working as a proper member of the crew. I was given the rank of a lieutenant, the rank I had during my time in the royal air force. I severed under Captain Archer for some more months. Within these months I learned anything about the alien cultures and languages they could teach me.

I have been on board for nearly six months. It was interesting, but I still wanted to leave. The Enterprise and it’s people where nice and civilised and all. But out there, there were a so many worlds I wanted to see, I just wanted more. And my opportunity came in quite an unexpected way.

By means, I was kidnaped.


	4. Chapter 4

It was just one day of many. I had breakfast with Hoshi, went to work in the engine room with Tucker, hat lunch with Natalie, a security officer, then some more hours in the engine room and dinner.

“Mind if I sit down?”

Archer showed up and smiled at me. We hadn’t really talked since the day of my arrival. I shrugged my shoulders, which he saw as invitation.

“What can I do for you, Captain?”

“I just wanted to know how you’re doing. I asked Trip, he said you’re doing a good job. But-“

“-Not good enough?”

Archer was surprised by me question. So was I, I hadn’t intended to ask that.

“No, not at all! Trip said, you’re one of the best machinists he has ever seen, maybe even better than him. But only maybe, of course.” He smiled brightly, “It was not easy for him to acknowledge that. Never actually saw him doing that. Which mean, you must have impressed him, and that’s a lot.”

“Thanks, but I had a good teacher.”

“And, well, I remembered, that I haven’t welcomed you as part of my crew yet. I only let you know that you regained your old rank.”

“There is no need too. But back to your question, yes, I think I’m doing not bad.” Again, I shrugged my shoulders. “I learned a lot form the people here. They’re all nice to me. Long story short, I have nothing to complain about.”

Archer looked at me a long time. I ignored it and continued eating.

“It must be hard for you-“

“With all due respect, Captain, don’t, please. I’m here now, in this universe, in this time.”

Of course, the Captain had his doubts. He wanted to say something when he was interrupted by the alarm. Only seconds later a couple of cloaked figures beamed in into the mess.

“Get up, scum!”

The intruders brought most of the crew away, but Archer and I were escorted to the bridge, where we met Trip and the rest of the commanding crew, though strictly speaking, I wasn’t part of it.

“What do you want?” Archer was pissed off, no wonder. They took his crew prisoner.

“We’ll take your ship and enslave your crew.”

“Oh, that sounds nice.” I couldn’t resist it, one day sarcasm would kill me.

“You think?”

“Of course, I could think of better ways to make new friends and find new crewmembers. I mean, you are looking for new people, aren’t you?”

“Penelope, what are you talking about?” Tucker was bewildered. By what I said, as well as by the fact that talked to them at all.

“I mean, just look at them. They clearly are from different species, so they were recruited. And like every good crew, they want to grow.”

I looked into the faces of me crewmates only to find that they couldn’t follow me.

“Oh, come on. Look around you, it’s obvious. Just for once, think logical.”

“You, little girl, are surprisingly clever.”

One of the, let’s call them pirates, stepped forward and approached me, while he does, he showed his face. He was some kind of reptile, but not greenish but weirdly reddish. His hand reached out to me and touched my face.

“Get your hands of her, snake.”

Tucker needed to be hold by two pirates to stop him attacking the snake. But the snake didn’t care.

“I could need a clever girl like you. Come with me, and I’ll make you my partner. In every way you want to.”

He pulled me closer. Of course, he was disgusting, but his offer … it was tempting. I could leave the Enterprise behind and start completely anew. I could final be who I wanted to be. And with the snakes help I could lead the pack. I could do so many things. Oh, for heaven’s sake, couldn’t Tucker quit the screaming? It was bugging me.

“It’s okay, Trip. He won’t hurt me, will you?”

“No, indeed not.”

“Lelo, why are you listening to him? What can he offer you?” For some mysterious reason Trip sounded desperate.

“As entertaining as it is, I am afraid, we need to leave now.” Snake smiled at me. “But I will not take your ship, nor will I enslave you, all because I am not as evil as you think. Or am I? I will take this beautiful little fighter here with me and make her my Queen.”

“I won’t allow this.” Archer stepped forward. He had remained silent till now.

“I’m not asking your permission, Captain.”

“Lieutenant Montrose, dear Lelo, please. Think this through.” 

“But I did, Captain, and me going with them saves the ship, so…”

“Lelo, in heaven’s name, we’ll figure it out. Just, please, don’t do anything stupid.” Trip, still being hold back by to pirates, bagged me.

“Well, that was nice and stuff, but let’s go.”

Snake pinned some piece of technology on my arm. I turned around to the crew, except for Tucker, they were crowded in the back of the bridge. Trip was not so far away from me. He tried to reach out for me, tried to get to me.

The technology has been activated and I knew I was fading.

“I’ll bring you back, I promise. I won’t give up, not ever.”

Before I vanished, I saw a single tear falling from his eyes. He cried for me. He cared enough to spill a tear for me.

I appeared on a ship.

“Welcome on board of your new home. Now, tell me, laddie, what’s your name?”

“Pence call me Penny. So, you are what? Space pirates?”

Snake nodded thoughtfully. Around us, the rest of the crew showed up, some beamed here, some walked in. They were, as I now could see, very different species, all humanoids, but some certainly didn’t look like.

“Yes, I think you could say so. We steel, we capture and enslave, we’ll do whatever we want. And you can be part of that if you want. Like I said, you impressed me. And I can make you my Queen, maybe, one day. But for now, I make you part of the crew, if you want. I am Lord Sanskrit”

“How could I say no to an offer that tempting. Yes, I will become one of you. And now what, I will be the most badass one. There will be no one to stop me.” 

I smiled at him and I could see that he liked what I had said.

“You and me, Snake, we will be more powerful than anyone out there, and they will fear us. Though, I will need a name a bit more threatening, don’t you think?”

He laughed,

“Oh, you are ambitious, my Queen, and this shall be the only name you’ll ever be known by. The Queen, the Evil Queen, the Ruthless Queen, the Merciless Queen. My Queen.” 

I still didn’t really liked the thought of being his Queen, but then again, if he would treat me like a real Queen, I could accept it. And being a pirate has always been my dream. And now, finally, this dream came true.


	5. Chapter 5

I couldn’t really tell how many years had passed since I had left the Enterprise. Luckily, we hadn’t crossed ways with them anymore. Even though, we sometimes met people who had told me that the crew was still looking for me. Especially Tucker. Most of them were too afraid of me to contact him and tell him anything. But once in a while, every three or four month I ordered someone to make sure Trip knew I was still alive.

Snake had died, and I took lead of the pack. And then, one day, one of my teams brought back a team of the Enterprise.

“We’ve got new slaves, my Queen!”

It was Tucker, Malcom and two ensigns. All looking beaten up and terrified, at least till they saw me, Tuckers face lit up and Malcom seemed utterly shocked and confused.

“Lelo!”

Tucker tried to get to me, but was hold back by some of my footmen.

“Shut up, Scum!”

“What did I tell you about the Enterprise crew?”

my voice was cold and threatening. The minion squeaked in horror.

“As far as I remember, I told you to never show to them, never to interfere with them and to never ever touch them!” I turned to the first officer, “Ain’t it so, Pitch?”

Pitch was, as the snake had been, some form of reptile and his native language was some high pitchy squeaking, and his name was unpronounceable, which is why he’s called Pitch now.

“Yes, your Majesty, you did tell us so.”

“So, if it wasn’t my failure, didn’t you made clear what the consequences would be?”

Horror similar to the one the minions face had shown appeared on Pitch’s

“No, no, your Majesty, I assure you, I told them, to cross ways with or show oneself to them would mean being abandoned, to interfere would mean losing one’s tongue and to touch them or hurt them would mean immediate death.”

The consequences I hadn’t heard till then, I had actually told Pitch to be creative with the punishment. “Nah! Don’t like the last one. How about, instead of making slaves out of those four humans, we use the idiots? You like that Pitch? I like it.”

“Penny?!”

“It’s ‘your Majesty’ you filthy worm!”

“Not now Tucker, but, Pitch, please escort them to my quarters.”

He nodded hastily and hurried towards them.

“And, Pitch, if any harm is done to them, you know what’ll happen to you. And you know, it would be kind of ironic, you, being tortured with the torture you came up with. I love irony.”

Pitch said something in his native tongue and hurried away, wrangling the team in front of him.

I did some other stuff before returning to me rooms. I was the best mechanist on this ship, so I was the one taking care of my engine. Wouldn’t ever dream of letting anyone mess around with my ship. It had taken me solid five hours getting rid of some problems it had and I was covered in machine oil, when I arrived at my compartment. When I stepped inside, I found the four crewmembers siting on my couches.

“Crap, nearly forgot about you!”

They all watched me, unsure about what to think. Both the ensigns were unfamiliar to me, must be new.

“Did Pitch bring you food?”

“If you want to call it so.” Malcom sat closest to me.

“We’ve been looking for you for years, we thought they kidnaped you.”

“They did. Then I joined them and after Snake’s, unregretted, dead, I took over.”

“And you never thought of telling us you were fine?”

“Didn’t I? Let me think, once in a while, you should have been contacted and told that I was alive. Haven’t you?”

“Yes.” Malcom nodded slightly.

“You see. Don’t ever think one of these guys would have dared to lose a word about me without my permission.”

Tucker had remained silent till now, probably couldn’t get over my change. And, hell, I had changed a lot. My exterior the most. I looked kind of like the pirates of the old stories, just cleaner and hotter. I also gained some tattoos, and yes, I gained and earned them. Most of them were badges of honour. Well, as honourable as a pirate could be.

“Why didn’t you come back?” 

It was still Malcom who did the talking. But I looked at Trip while I answered.

“Remember what I told you, when I joined the crew?”

“That you came from a universe, where our journey was a tv show.” He nodded vaguely.

“Exactly, I knew the future of this universe, of everyone on the ship. I knew the precise time, place and cause of death of every single one of you.”

“You knew what would happened to earth! You knew my sister would die!”

Tucker had jumped up and screamed at me. But I remained silent while he screamed at me, insulted me, and accused me of some not nice things. Yes, of course I had known. I had also known that I couldn’t change the future.

“I couldn’t do anything. To gamble with time is far more dangerous than you can imagine.”

“Seven million people, how much worse could it have been?!”

He was mad, and really, I understood, to save my family I would have done everything, and my family died when I was a few years old. Could barely remember them, but would do anything to save them. And I wished I could have saved his sister, only his sister, just for him, for his sake. But I couldn’t.

“Tell me, how many would have died!?”

Malcom wasn’t sure if he should stop Trip. He was afraid of me, couldn’t say what I would do. But he wanted to know as well.

“Everyone.” I saw that none of them understood. “Everyone would have died. Everyone in the whole fucking universe. All of time and space would have been exterminated. Extinct from existence. No life would ever have existed.”

I let this sink in for some minutes before I continued.

“I contacted … someone in the future. He was looking for me anyways, so it was easy. And we did the math together. There was no possible outcome less fatale than the one that happened. There was no way to save anyone. Not even her. Especially, not her.”

“But you tried?” This came from an ensign. “I mean, please don’t kill me for saying this, but you seem pretty badass and dangerous and psychotic-“

“Thanks for those compliments, but please just get to your point.”

“I don’t understand why you would do any of it. Trying to save the earth and especially his sister, or punish any interference with the enterprise.”

“That is, indeed, a good question.”

I rolled my eyes. Why must everyone always expect me to have a weak spot?

“If you prefer being enslaved, we can arrange that, but I wanted to ensure the course of the future since I changed it enough with being around.”

“And why did you try to save Comander Tuckers sister?”

“I begin to think you would be a good slave, after cutting out your tongue.”

The man jerked bad and fell silent, as well as the others.

“What did I thought taking Valerian on board?” I shook my head. “What am I supposed to do with you now?”

Honestly, this point bugged me since the moment I saw them onboard my ship. Keeping them as prisoners? To extensive. Enslaving them? Certainly not. Letting them go? My reputation would suffer too much. Killing them? Hell no. So, what else could I do?

“Whatever, I’ll think of something appropriate. Till then, you stay in this suite. You got me?”

Everyone nodded. I left for my bedroom, where I sat on my bed only moments before Tucker walked in.

“I’ll go with Ensign Petrov, please don’t kill me. I intended to hope that you still like me and Malc enough to not kill us, but it occurred to me, that you might have never liked us at all.”

“No, I did actually like you. But don’t bother asking if I let you go. I can’t. If I let you go, I’ll risk mutiny. This scum outside there is rather barbarian.”

“They seem quite afraid of you.”

“They are, I do not accept disloyalty. But don’t worry, I’ll find a way that neither includes you being killed, nor being enslaved. And hopefully it won’t take too long.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Why, indeed? I had no reason other than the promise he made me to find me had actually touched me.

“How are things going on the Enterprise?”

“Good, I think.”

“How nice. If you don’t mind, I would need to take a shower and sleep a bit. We’ll talk about everything else in the morning. Or maybe we won’t. Whatever.”

Tucker looked unsure about what to do now. Then he smiled, which really surprised me.

“I’m glad you’re alive. And, maybe it was the best for you to leave the Enterprise. Even though you changed a lot, and not only for good.”

He walked out and left me wondering how much he actually cared for me. Some part of me hoped that he just cared for me as a friend and a fellow engineer. But the other part doubted that and even wished for it.

Some days later, I still had no idea what to do with them, so they stayed as my guests. And I think, Tucker was exited, because I showed him the engine room.

“Wow! Is this what I think it is?”

“If you think it is a tricobalt based nervous system that runs through the entire ship, yeah.”

“That’s awesome. But why did you do that?”

“Because it’s more efficient than anything else. Together with the tungsten carbide exoskeleton it creates a nearly indestructible ship. This ship flies with a speed of warp 5.99.”

“No way!”

I continued showing him the new technologies I had invented or integrated. Malcom, who had come along, watched us as you watch two children who happily build a snowman after the first snow. Which probably was an accurate description of us. 

“So, you’re happy here?”

We went back to my rooms to have lunch. And I had told them about my life here.

“I think so. If I had a choice, I would return immediately. But since I can’t...”

The last years I had spent looking for a way back. I tried everything, even blew up a moon, hoping that I could use the resulting black hole to create an Einstein-Rosen-Bridge. But I failed.

“Anyways, I suppose, I’m happier here than I could have been at the enterprise.”

Tucker looked hurt.

“Where we really that bad?”

“No. Not at all. I just couldn’t stay. “

Trip nodded slowly. He still looked hurt.

“Try to see it from my point. All the people around me, I knew what would happen to them. I knew that you would lose your sister. Every time I looked at you, I saw your face when you found out. I couldn’t bare it. I liked you and if I had stayed, I might have told you, I might have warned you and destroyed the whole universe. I couldn’t risk it for nice companionship.”

“Guess you’re right.”

He didn’t really sound convinced, but at least he wasn’t hurt anymore.

“Well, I’ll go back to the others.”

With those words I was alone, left thinking about a solution for this impossible situation. I couldn’t think of any way, to get them of my ship, without losing it.


	6. Chapter 6

But the answer came to me sooner than I thought and in an unexpected way. It came in form of the USS Enterprise. Captain Archer hailed us, telling us to release all four of them. When I heard Pitch telling me, I had a brilliant idea.

“Tell him, tell him, that he can have one of his ensigns back. We’ll send him over. He will carry a massage for us. The Captain does what I ask, and he’ll get his people back, alive. If not, I’ll send them to him in pieces.”

“That is a gruesome idea, my Queen. Perfect. I will make it happen.”

“No, you tell the Captain. I will prepare the Ensign.”

My plan was anything but failproof. But it was my best chance. So, I went to my room.

“We received word from your Captain. He demands you back.”

None of them looked surprised, more like curious, what I would do. I pointed at one of the ensigns

“You, what was your name again?”

“Petrov, Ma’am, Istvan Petrov.”

Whatever, I didn’t really care.

“Good news, Petrov. You’ve been promoted to delivery boy. You will deliver a message for me, will you?”

The poor boy was still scared of me. But he nodded. He wouldn’t disappoint me, I was sure. Because if he would, he’d cause his comrades death. Which I was sure he wouldn’t want. I explained my plan to him and the others. Petrov was not really excited about his new job, but he assured us, that he’d be able to do that. I escorted him to the transporter room and beamed him over to the Enterprise.

“Pitch, you go to the bridge and await answer form Archer.”

“Yes, my Queen.” He bowed to me. “May I asked what your Majesty will do now?”

“I’ll make sure our prisoners don’t try anything funny.”

Pitch nodded and hasted away, but one of the other crew members approached me.

“Shall I send security to your suite for the prisoners?”

I casted a murderous glare towards him, “Do you suggest, that I am unable to handle four puny humans?”

He shook his head, “No, no of course not, your Majesty, I just thought… forgive me, your Majesty.”

“Don’t think, next time. Your way to stupid for that.”

The crewman agreed with me and I left for my quarter. Where I found three anxious Starfleet officers waiting for my return.

“You all got your devices?”

All four nodded slowly. I went over to a computer and began tipping. Trip came over and helped me disconnecting my tricobalt based nervous system. It pained me to destroy it, but if Archer took me out of here, I didn’t want it to be in the hands of this scum. Then I set a timer, that would reject the tungsten carbide exoskeleton as soon as I was beamed of the ship. Now I only had to hope that Archer would take me with the rest of his crew. After all, I had told Petrov to tell Archer everything he learned while being here and telling him, that he could chose to leave me here. Which I dearly hoped, he would not.

“I don’t think Johnathan will leave you behind. That’s not like him. Not even after all this.”

I found it amazing how Trip just needed to take one look at me and could guess what I had been thinking.

“Would you even want me to come back?”

It was hard to say, who this question surprised more, me or him. I hadn’t expected to actually say it out loud, it just had crossed my mind.

Trip smiled at me kindly, “If I wouldn’t want you to come back, would I have searched for you whenever I could? Would I have asked on every planet we been to, and every ship we encounter, if they knew you?”

“You did that?”

That was… wow. That was amazing. And astonishing at the same time. I never expected him to search for me that enthusiastically.

“I promised you, didn’t I? That I wouldn’t give up until I brought you back. I didn’t indent to and I won’t now.”

His smile grew bigger and brighter and I couldn’t do anything but smile back.

“It’s time-“

That’s all Malcom could say before disintegrating. The Ensign was the next, then Trip. For a terrible second I thought, Trip had been wrong, and Archer left me behind, but then I could feel how my body disintegrated, too.


End file.
